Roman Catholics: The Vatican's Wealth

Bankers' best guesses about the
Vatican's wealth put it at $10 billion to $15 billion. Of this wealth,
Italian stockholdings alone run to $1.6 billion, 15% of the value of
listed shares on the Italian market. The Vatican has big investments
in banking, insurance, chemicals, steel, construction, real estate.
Dividends help pay for Vatican expenses and charities such as assisting
1,500,000 children and providing some measure of food and clothing to
7,000,000 needy Italians. Unlike ordinary stockholders, the Vatican
pays no taxes on this income, which led the leftist Rome weekly
L'Espresso last week to call it "the biggest...